Tag Archives: British Invasion

I know what you’re thinking…you’re wondering what the hell I’m thinking reviewing a show about Carole King in my Beatles blog! If you bare with me for a couple minutes, I’ll get there…and baby, you’ll be amazed!

My husband and I are season ticket holder for The Philly Pops. So far, we’ve seen their tribute to Frank Sinatra and just last night, their tribute to the music of Carole King. The conductor made it a point to mention, that Carole King was responsible for more than just the songs on her solo albums. She played a huge part in the British Invasion.

Believe it or not, the hit single “I’m into Something Good” was originally composed by Carole King and her then husband Gerry Goffin. The song was first recorded by Earl-Jean of the The Cookies in 1964, but later that year, Herman’s Hermits recorded the same song as their debut single and it peaked in the U.S. Charts at #13, making their British Invasion story not so British after all!

“Chains” was another song composed by husband and wife team of Gerry Goffin and Carole King. It was originally recorded (but not released) by The Everly Brothers, but in 1962 it was a hit for Little Eva’s backup singers, The Cookies reaching #17 on the U.S. Pop chars and #7 on the R&B charts. It also
became a very popular song to cover for bands in
Liverpool including The Beatles. And how could any good Beatle freak not know that the Fab Four recorded their version of “Chains“ for their first album, “Please Please Me“.

So folks, here she is…the little Jewish girl from NYC who is the greatest British Invasion artist of the 1960’s, Carole King performing her song “Chains”!

The show was fantastic as always. And The Beatles connection made it even better! And for that reason,

I had the great pleasure of attending this month’s meeting of theBroadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia. It was recommended to me by T. Morgan after I read and reviewed his book in November 2015.The meeting was opened to the public and was held at the lovely Bala Golf Club in Bala Cynwyd, PA. There was a small cost of $28 for non-members to cover the cost of the luncheon.

Gary Hendler, radio host on WWDB and former record promotion personDon Hurley, radio personality & host and classic rock expert at the Jersey ShoreEd Hurst, radio & television personality for three quarters of a centuryTommy McCarthy, current music director for 98.1, WOGL, PhiladelphiaMichael Tearson, well-known Philadelphia FM Radio air personalityBill Wright, Sr., famed WIBG (Radio 99) and WPEN Radio air personality

Prior to the panel discussion, I had the good fortune of sitting down to lunch at table with Tommy McCarthy and Michael Tearson. Tommy is the program director for Oldies 98 (WOGL) in Philadelphia and Michael Tearson is a well-known long-time on-air personality in Philadelphia. Just sitting and listening to these gentlemen talk was amazing. And when they both joined the panel discussion, their knowledge of music and the industry was beyond compare. In fact, the entire panel was something to behold. Just when you thought you knew all the Beatles experts…along comes the Broadcast Pioneers!

I would highly recommend that anyone in the Philly area that is interested in the history of music, whether it’s pop, rock or oldies, sign up for the Broadcast Pioneers mailing list and try to make it out to one of their luncheons. It’s well worth your time and cost to get in.

Here are the dates for their monthly meetings (topics to be announced): Monthly Luncheons

You can also sign up for their mailing list to keep on top if the meetings and happenings here. (they don’t Spam you!)